Nobreed
by ObsidianShadow1994
Summary: The jewel is complete but Sesshomaru still has problems within his Lands, including a mysterious stranger that calls himself the Obsidian Shadow.Meanwhile,Kagome has a new soul and mission,so much for a normal life right?When Sesshomaru's involved? NOT!
1. A Life

Obsidian Shadow

_By 'Kimi Zetsumi'_

**Chapter 1:**

Kagome waved goodbye to her friends as she made her way toward the well.

It was over.

Naraku had been defeated, the jewel completed and Kagome had made her unselfish wish, bringing back Kohaku to his sister, Kikyo had been given a complete soul and a second chance at life with Inuyasha who had chosen to remain a hanyou. Miroku's Wind Tunnel had vanished and both he and Sango were planning to get married and raise Shippo. Amid the rejoicing and happy banter, everyone in the group was shocked when Tachi suddenly showed up…with Miroku's father! Kagome chuckled to herself; it had been a very interesting reunion…

**Flashback:**

_Miroku turned to Sango, holding her hands, "Sango, now that my Wind Tunnel is gone, I am free to have a life. Please will you do me the honor of-"_

"_Master!" Everyone looked up to see Tachi floating above them. "Something incredible has occurred. There was a great pink light at your father's grave and…well."_

_Inuyasha came over with Kikyo. "Well, what happened?" Miroku asked, his voice slightly edged with worry._

_There was a gruff laugh and a purple and black robed man jumped off or Tachi._

"_Ha, well I might as well spoil the surprise. Seeing is believing isn't it?"_

_Miroku's jaw had dropped to the ground, shock plastered all over his face. "F-Father?!" he finally managed to stutter out, only to wheeze out his breath as his father grabbed him into a tight embrace._

"_Ha, ha! I knew you'd succeed. I just knew that you'd beat that bastard Naraku into hell!" he stepped back, the signature grin similar to Miroku's on his face. "Though I admit that I didn't expect to be brought back, but who am I to complain."_

_His gaze fell on Sango. "Ah, Buddha smiles on me today; young lady, would you do me the hon- DOH!" he sat down hard on the ground as Sango brought her Hiraikotsu back over her shoulder._

"_Sorry, pervert, but I'm taken." And with a devilish smile on her face she grabbed Miroku and planted a kiss on his lips, with he returned after he got over his initial shock._

_Tachi informed them that a strange pink light had enveloped Miroku's father's grave and when it had dissipated, had left him there, alive, well and without his Wind Tunnel. They had traveled to Edo to meet up with them, but on the way they had pasted the demon-slayer's village and found that it and all of it's inhabitants had been restored, even the bodies of Sango's father and fellow slayers had been brought back. _

_Sango had collapsed against Miroku, tears of joy streaming down her face, then Kohaku joined in, joyful that his father was alive once more._

_Miroku's father, Keiji, had regained consciousness and winked slyly at Miroku while nursing a bruised skull. _

"_Well, aren't you lucky, boy; I look forward to my twenty grand-children soon." He chuckled._

_Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "Great, as if one Miroku wasn't enough. Now there are two." Kikyo laughed. Shippo rolled his eyes. "Yep, he's Miroku's dad. As the saying goes, 'Like father, like son.'" In the background Kirara mewed in agreement._

**End Flashback**

Kagome made it to the well and stood there; her mind taking a long trip down nostalgia lane. She had long gotten over her schoolgirl crush on Inuyasha and all of the years of traversing over feudal Japan had matured her, both physically and mentally. She took a deep breath.

"_Well," _she thought. "_It's all over. I can go home, attend a university, and end up married to Hojo and live a perfect, normal, boring life."_

She sighed and shook her head as she jumped over into the well.

"_Yeah, right."_

**End Chapter 1**

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A/N: Yes, I know, it's freaking short even for my first fanfic, but it's only the first chapter and i can promise you that there will be many longer chapters in this story. Next chapter will explain a bunch of things, but i don't think it will be as long as i want it, but NEVER FEAR, IT _WILL_ BE COOL! With a little of this and a little of that, (okay a lot of that) and BANG! _MY FANFIC! _I'm a genius.

Review Please.

Thanx. KZ


	2. A Soul

**Chapter 2:**

Kagome travelled through the flow of time, lost in her thoughts. Then, she noticed that something was amiss. She wasn't moving; the usual lights and bubbles of time were still flowing, but not her; she was seemingly floating in place.

"_What's going on?"_ she wondered, slightly worried that something had gone wrong with the well. Then, she felt a calming presence and a soothing voice started echoing around her.

"_Do not be afraid, Kagome. You are not in any danger here."_

Kagome watched as a figure began to appear before her. It was a demon woman that looked around her age, but she knew better that to gauge how old a demon was from their looks. She was garbed in a strange armor similar to Sango's, yet different. There was skin-tight black body suit that stopped pointed at her hands and small black boots; over she wore a sleeve-less, dark-blue turtleneck-like vest. Around her waist was a polished black leather belt with black pouch and where a polished scabbard of similar black leather rested, but didn't hold a sword. From the belt came a skirt of the same dark-blue material as the vest, but instead of a single piece of fabric, it was cut into strips; their length went from the waist down to just above the tops of demon woman's boots.

Kagome hesitantly lifted her gaze up to the demons face. Her skin was a creamy peach color and smooth with two royal blue stripes slightly curving around her face; her straight nose lead up to two deep, sparkling sapphire blue eyes framed by long dark lashes and twin elegant eyebrows. Etched onto her forehead was a dark blue moon cradling three black teardrops and on her head, her jet black hair glistened with blue highlights, like Kagome's, went all the way down past her butt, even when pulled up into a high pony-tail.

She smiled friendly at Kagome. "_It is good to meet you Kagome. I am Okumae._" Okumae's musical voice soothed over Kagome nerves and she relaxed slightly before going shooting a long string of questions at her.

"How do you know my name? What's going on? Why have I stopped? Is something wrong? What are you doing here? Whe-"

She was interrupted by Okumae's chuckling. It sounded like hand-bells, clear and soft. "_So many questions; so little time. Do not worry, they will all be answered soon enough. I have come to you to inform you that your purpose in the past is not yet over."_

A look of confusion came over Kagome's face. "But, the jewel was completed and wished out of existence. Everyone was happy…" She stammered.

"_Except you." _Okumae nodded knowingly. Kagome's shoulders drooped and her gaze shifted downward.

Okumae continued, "_The Jewel, it granted Kikyo a complete soul, her previous one, for her to live, so they took it from you. For it is impossible for one soul to be split forever. It will eventually become one again. However, you were included in the list of people who were to benefit from the Jewel's passing. Midoriko wanted to give you another soul with even more power as a priestess, but the demons of the Jewel had to have their say, as well. They demanded that you be given a spirit of a demon."_

Kagome was shocked. "You mean that my soul was given back to Kikyo and I have the soul of a demon, now?! How the heck am I supposed to explain this to my family?"

Okumae tilted her head, asking somewhat hesitantly. "_Does the prospect of have a demon soul bother you?"_

Kagome cradled her face in her hands, her eyes watering. "No, it's not that. But with a demon soul, I'll outlive my family; my friends and you know how demons age slower than humans. I won't be able to live a normal life or get married. I'll-I'll be alone." She looked back up at Okumae, tears refusing to be kept back as they spilled over her face. "You said that I was to benefit from the Jewel's passing, but I hardly see how this is beneficial to me or anyone for that matter."

Okumae reached out and with the slightest of touches, a clawed finger wiped away Kagome's tears. Her hand came to rest on her shoulder, gripping it reassuringly.

"_Don't despair just yet, Kagome. Midoriko was clever enough to come up with a compromise at the last second. It was decided that you would be given the soul of a Nobreed."_

Kagome, who was still slightly disoriented from this whole situation, calmed down a bit from Okumae's touch, but she had to ask. "What's a Nobreed?"

Okumae's bell-like laughter filled her ears as she smiled, revealing her long, razor-sharp white fangs. _"I am a Nobreed"_ she paused as Kagome's eyes widened. "_Let me explain, Kagome, I don't have much time left. A Nobreed is, or was, a mighty race of beings that possessed both the spiritual of a priest or priestess and the auras, powers and abilities of demons. It was due to this combination of powers that was the cause of their great might. However, like all great powers, nothing is perfect and they developed a problem that eventually led to their decline of power._

_Spiritual powers could not commune together with the demonic auras of a demon in harmony for long before it begins to attempt to purify it. The Nobreeds were destroyed from the inside out; many were driven mad by the pain and anguish of their own clashing powers, eventually going off on mindless rages that wrecked catastrophic destruction._

_The Nobreeds realized their plight and the unpleasant possibility that their race could very well become extinct, so they devised a way to fix the dilemma. They came up with a way to seal away one of their two powers, spiritual or demonic, into one of two seals that were created. All of their race were given the choice of whether to live among humans with spiritual powers or amoung demons with their auras. They funneled both powers into two separate seals. These seals were entrusted to two people: The demonic one to the Nobreed princess and the other the contained the sealed spiritual powers to a powerful human priestess, Midoriko." _

Kagome voiced aloud her thoughts as she digested the information that she had just been given. "So…Midoriko was the guardian of the seal that had multiple spiritual auras in it and the seal with the demonic powers in it was given to the Nobreed's princess." She saw a secretive sparkle flash through Okumae's sapphire eyes as she smiled. Understanding dawned on Kagome. "You! You're the princess!" Okumae nodded; Kagome gave a small, unsure smile. "That's…great and all, but I still don't see what this has to do with me."

Okumae nodded. "_You're a clever girl, and you're right, but to your question; I have long passed on in my duty of protecting the seal from those who would misuse its powers. Midoriko and I were friends and before her soul was sent to rest, she was able to compromise that the soul that you would receive would be mine." _

Kagome gasped. "Yours! But what will happen to you?" she asked as she began to flow with time again. Okumae brought from her pouch at her side a necklace. The pendant on it was shaped in the same design as the symbol that was etched onto Okumae's forehead. She clasped it around Kagome's neck and nodded at her.

"_Don't worry. I'll be right with you. But know that your quest in Feudal Japan isn't over yet. You'll have to return, soon."_

Kagome felt herself being pulled along with time's current and watched as Okumae faded away, and then the blue light and she found herself standing on the dirt floor of the well, in her own time again. She looked down and raised the necklace to in front of her eyes.

"_I guess there go my chance at having a normal, boring life."_ A smile spread its way over her face and she began her climb up out of the well. _"All right!"_

**End Chapter 2**

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**What'd I tell ya? This chapter was longer. I can't help but feel as though I am going to fast with the story though. Forewarning to all those of you who prefer Kagome as a wimpy, goody-two shoes school girl, TO BAD! THIS IS MY FANFIC AND SHE IS GOING TO BE COOL! As for the next chapter, uh..., working on it. please review and comPLIMENT. Thanx!**

**KZ**


	3. A Home

**Chapter 3:**

Kagome opened the doors to her home and dropped her oversized, yellow backpack in a corner.

"I'm home, Mom!" she called.

Mrs. Higurashi appeared from out of the kitchen and returned her daughter's embrace.

"Oh, Kagome, it's so good to see you again. I getting dinner ready in the kitchen and Souta should be out of school in a minute or two and Grandpa is at the doctor's. Would you mind picking them up for me? I know that they would be glad to see you back too."

Kagome nodded and walked towards the stairs. "Sure thing, Mom; Let me just change out of these clothes. By the way, I have some things to tell you, but they can wait till after dinner."

Mrs. Higurashi's face fell a bit, but she called back evenly. "That's okay, dear. You have time for a shower before you pick up Souta and Grandpa."

"Okay!" replied Kagome as she disappeared around the corner. Mrs. Higurashi went back and sat down at the kitchen table. Sighing deeply, she rubbed her eyes. Like any mother, she worried for her daughter and loved her dearly, but she had had her share of sleepless nights wondering if Kagome would ever come back through the well. She pushed herself up out of her chair and began stirring her pot of teriyaki chicken, still in deep thought. Kagome hadn't been especially depressed when she had arrived. If fact, she seemed to be both excited and nervous about something. She was obviously overjoyed at the evil hanyou's demise, but she still had that air about her. Siya had seen it in Kagome a lot during her time-traveling; she acted as though she didn't live here anymore. Like she just came by on the weekends to visit and get some more food for her travels.

Sighing, she took the pot off the stove and turned it off. Kagome was a big girl, now twenty years old; plenty old enough to make her own decisions and choices. Siya had known that someday she would leave the shrine to make a life on her own. Most likely, it would be in the Feudal Era. She worried about the dangers that lived on the other side of the well, but Kagome had proven over and over again that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Siya made the decision to respect and accept Kagome's decision when it came, whatever it may be.

She could overhear the water running upstairs and Kagome singing happily to herself and sighed again as another wave of nostalgia washed over her. It still didn't make it any easier.

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Kagome undressed and stepped into the shower letting the warm water flow over her. "Ah, nothing like modern day luxuries, like indoor plumping." she started singing as she squirted her lavender sented shampoo into her hands and began to lather it into her hair. "_How the heck am I suppose to explain everything to Mom? 'Guess what? You remember that priestess that I'm the reincarnation of and tried to kill me? Well, she's got my soul now and I've got one that belongs to a Nobreed princess and this is just another pit stop because I have to go back through the well to do another life threatening mission that she told me I have to do.'"_

Rinsing out the shampoo, she started massaging her lavender sented conditioner through her hair, now grumbling. "_Which reminds me, that I have absolutely NO idea WHAT I am supposed to be doing."_

_**"I told you, all of your questions will be answered in due time."**_

Kagome yelped and pulling back the curtian slightly, looked around the room. "Who's ther-..." she started, then stopped as she recognized the voice. "Okumae? Is that you? where are you?" looking around the bathroom again, she still couldn't see her new incarnation. Then she heard chuckling and talking again.

**"_You shouldn't talk to yourself, it makes people stare; and you don't have to speak out loud for me to hear you. Just think what you want me to hear." _**

Okumae's voice was hinted with a little bit of amusment that Kagome picked up on. She replied somewhat irritated. "_Hey, I am not used to obnoxious voices talking to me in my head. How did you get in my mind anyway?"_

**"_Every youkia has an inner beast. It contains everything that the youkia knows and feels. Emotions, knowledge, wisdom; it advises them in almost every matter. Humans call a 'conscience' and its influence is considerably less than that of a youkia's beast. Since you have recieved my soul, it would only be natural for me to be your inner beast; or 'conscience' if you wish to put it."_**

Kagome nodded to herself. "_So you know everything that I know now and you are now my conscience." _She groaned; the days events coming down on her. "_I'm never going to be able to have a private conversation ever again, even in my head!"_

A calming feeling started to spread through her body. Kagome was surprised, then realized that Okumae was trying to soothe her. **_"I am you and you are me, now. What I know will be pasted to you in due time when you are ready. If it makes you feel any better, just think of me as that annoying little voice in the back of your head that never shuts up, but is always right."_**

Kagome couldn't help but grin and laugh at the thought as she got out of the shower. "_Oh, you've certianly got that role down in no time flat." _she sarcasticly retorted.

Okumae laughed to. **_"Nice to feel wanted."_**

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The rest of Kagome's day pasted by retaining a level of normalcy. Souta had been estatic to see her again and her grandfather had welcomed her while mumbling about how he had been working on his sutra skills while she had been away. Laughing and smiling was all around as she drove them home and sat down to a delicious home-made dinner. Afterwards, her grandfather asended the stairs creekily, grumbling about old age as he headed off to his bed. Souta followed several hours later with Kagome tucking him in.

He looked up at his sister; she had explained her story over dinner and was dissapointed at the prospect that his hero, Inuyasha, might not be coming back, but something else was bothering him.

"Kagome? Now that you've destroyed the jewel and defeated the bad guy, what are you going to do?" he asked.

Kagome turned on his night-light, even though he was now twelve, he still had one. She shrugged. "I don't really know yet, but I'll think of something." she smiled, trying to put on a brave face for her brother when he sat up and hugged her around the middle. She wrapped her arms around him, her stomach gaining a sinking feeling as she realized that she would be leaving him again for the Feudal Era. Soon.

"If you're going back again, it's okay. I'll still miss you, but as long as you are happy I'll be okay." Souta said, his reply muffled slightly by her shirt. Kagome felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes and she hugged her little brother tighter.

"Thank you, Souta. Very much. Don't worry too much about me. I promise that I will come back to see you again."

Souta nodded, releasing her. As Kagome stood up to leave, he turned off his night-light. "I'm too old for it, now." was all he would say.

Smiling, Kagome nodded, "Finally growing up, aren't you?" and slowly closed the door. She stood outside, her hand still resting on the handle.

**_"You will see him again." _**Okumae stated. Her voice was slightly tinged with guilt. **_"If I could have, I would not have had you given my soul and responsibilities. You have a wonderful family and deserve to be with them. I do not like what I have forced upon you."_**

Kagome walked to the stairs. _"It is not that...bad. After all of my adventures in the Feudal Era I don't think that I would have been able to live my life as a normal teenager, anymore. It would be too...boring." _Going into the kitchen to her mother who was just finishing up the dishes. Pouring two cups of tea for her and her daughter, she sat down at the table with her and clasped her hand.

Siya could feel her chest constrict as she began. "Honey, before you tell me what you need to tell me, I just want you to know that I will support you in whatever you decide to do with your life. You may not be of an age where we would consider you to be and adult, but I know better and have watched you mature at a faster pace than most girls. You are a grown up and are able to make your own decisions and I want you to know that while I worry constantly about you, that is only natural; I am proud of you. And so would your father." she spoke the last part in barely a whisper, but she felt a bit more at peace knowing that her daughter now knew how she felt.

Kagome sat, stunned into silence, the tears that she had managed to hold back in Souta's room were now trailing down her cheeks in twin streams. Okumae's voice spoke quietly in the back of her mind, almost as if she was talking to herself.

**_"You are indeed blessed to have such and understanding family."_ **she commented softly.

Unable to hold herself back, she embraced her mom and cried silently for a while before breaking the hug. Sipping at her tea, which had cooled down to just the right temperature, to steady herself, she began to explain what she had edited from her original story that she had recited during dinner. Siya sat and listened the whole time, digesting every bit of new information, while simply being content with Kagome's presence near her.

When Kagome was finished with her narrative, Siya nodded and rubbed Kagome's shoulders. "Thank you for telling me, Kagome. It's late and you should go to bed. In fact, I should be in bed soon too. Go on, I'll be up in a few minutes. Good night."

Kagome nodded and went upstairs. Opening the door to her room, she looked around while making her way to her bed. After changing into her pajamas, she got under the covers and closed her eyes, sighing.

"_Finally, a good night's sleep in my own bed."_

She was out in under a minute. Then she started hearing Okumae's voice.

**_"Kagome, open your eyes. We have work to do."_**

Her response to her new inner voice's prodding was to groan and roll over in the grass- wait- _grass?! _Her eyes shot open and she sat up. Looking around, she saw that she was in a grassy field with several trees around. A pure, light blue sky hung over her head, without a single cloud anywhere on it. The field stretched on for miles in all directions till she couldn't see the end as it dissappeared into the skyline. Okumae stood several paces away from her, still dressed in the same attire as she had seen her in before.

Kagome got up. "Okumae, where are we? How did I get here?"

"I brought you here. We are inside your mind." was her reply.

Kagome then noticed that she was not in her pajamas anymore. Instead, she was dressed in a similar outfit to Okumae's accept it was tan and white in colors with no sheath or pouch. her hair was tied back too. She looked around her again. "This is inside my mind? Wow, I never thought that it would be so...big and...spacious." she looked at Okumae. "Why did you bring me here?"

Okumae's response consisted of a sword appearing in both of thier right hands and going into a battle crouch. She smirked at Kagome's alarmed expression. "To train you." Then she charged.

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**YOU ARE ALL SPOILED! It is 11:10 and I am writing this just for you. Be happy, VERY HAPPY! Well, what do you think? I got a little motherly emotions mixed into this chapter along with Souta's. Hey, he misses his big sister, maybe even a little jealous. All you little brothers out there, wouldn't you be jealous of your big sisters if they got to spend their days kicking a** in the past? Yes you would. I know I would. Enjoy and ComPLIMENT. Thank you I love you all. Good night.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing accept Okumae.**

**KZ**


	4. A Mission

**Chapter 4**

"Come on, Kagome. Parry faster!" commanded Okumae as she rained blows with her sword down on Kagome, who was dodging, ducking and parrying them when she could. She jumped out of the way before Okumae's sword sliced through her thigh.

"JEEZ, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! KILL ME?!" She screamed at her while deflecting blow that was aimed at her head.

Okumae didn't let up with her attacks. "I am trying to train you, which you will only learn through actually trying. Stop running around and fight me." Kagome saw her sword came up in an arce and bringing up her own to diflect it. As if on impulse, she twisted her sword, almost wrenching it out of Okumae's grasp, but she flipped it in her fingers and turned. Kagome dodged as she stabbed at where her right shoulder had been and slashed at her adversary's knees. Okumae jumped back and Kagome spun her sword around, clashing it with Okumae's and tried to jump on top of her; but Okumae brought her feet up to her stomach and legs throwing her over her, before flowing through the movment back onto her feet as Kagome thudded to the ground.

She quickly scrambled up. Okumae smiled and went into a battle crouch again. "Very good." she complimented and went at her again.

Kagome and Okumae sparred together for what seemed like endless ages. Okumae didn't stop until Kagome was weilding her sword fluently and effortlessly as she was, both right-handed and left-handed; always encouraging her to go faster until they were fighting in a blur; both seemingly dancing on the ground and even sometimes twisting in the air and keeping themselves suspended by continually twisting and moving to keep themselves suspended in the air while fighting. Then suddenly, Okumae pulled back and lowered her sword. Both hers and Kagome's disappeared; Kagome looked at her.

"Wait, what now?" she asked.

A hard wooden staff appeared in her hands and Okumae's. She nodded to her student. "You have learned how to weild a blade to perfection. There is nothing left for me to teach about that. Now we will work with your skills with a staff."

Kagome quickly brought up her staff and blocked Okumae's attack. "Wait, how many weapons are you going to train me in? How long is this going to take?" her inquirry was somewhat frantic as she attacked Okumae.

Okumae looked at her from behind her staff. "As many as I can and as long as it takes." was her response.

How much time passed, Kagome didn't know. Hours seemed to meld with days...to weeks...to months...to years. Throughout with she never stopped sparring with Okumae in different weaponry and styles of fighting and never got tired. The grassy field that they were in never changed; the light seeming to come from around them since there wasn't a sun to keep track of what time it was. Her knowledge and skill with all sorts of weapons and fighting were honed by Okumae's relentless training. She mastered knives, the sword, staff, had enjoyed hand-to-hand combat, and many other things that she had not known that she could do before, such as her control over her miko powers, which increased considerably. She even learned to control her demonic aura now that she had the soul of a Nobreed.

Then, Okumae stopped.

Kagome looked at her, waiting for her to attack her again, but she didn't. She raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Nothing else?"

Okumae smiled and shook her head. "Yes, that is it. You have learned all that I have to teach you. You have made considerable progress and it is time for me to explain to the mission that you have been assigned." She sat down in front of Kagome who did the same as she began to explain what Kagome was supposed to do.

"While I was alive, there were many other demons who wanted to defeat me and steal the demonic seal from me so that they could use it to increase their own. The seal contained all of the demonic auras of my race that had chosen to keep their spiritual powers and live amoung humans. If anyone got hold of it and accessed those auras, the result would be similar to that of the Shikon no Tama. It would add all of the other auras to the new wearer of the seal." Okumae paused, nodding for Kagome to ask the question that she had.

"Am **I** able to access these auras and where is the seal?" Okumae reached out and brought up the pendant that was still hanging around Kagome's neck where Okumae had put it. "This is the seal. Let me explain somethings to you. You bear my soul, but you are also Midoriko's reincarnation." she stopped Kagome before she could protest. "I know, you thought that you were Kikyo's reincarnation, but you are not. When Kikyo died, she was burned with the Shikon no Tama with her, taking it with her, thus, a part of her was recognized and passed on to you. Midoriko used the spiritual seal to aid her in creating the Shikon no Tama and so, because you were her reincarnation, you inheirited her spiritual powers and now that the Shikon has been used and Midoriko finally able to pass on, you have now recieved all of her powers as well as the multitude of powers in the spiritual seal. You are the without a doubt the most powerful miko that has ever walked the earth. When you were given my soul, your spiritual powers were also Midoriko's at one time and recognized me, which is why you weren't split apart by our clashing powers. I may be your inner beast, but she is your subconscience. The spiritual seal is gone, now a part of you and the demonic seal, here, has passed on its contained auras into you with my soul. Now, instead of containing the auras inside itself, it contains them inside you. When you are wearing the seal, you can still use your demonic aura, but it will be masked by your prominant spiritual powers. When you remove it, your demonic powers will become dominant and you will take on a form more appropriate for them. This form will most likely look like me, only prettier." She smiled at Kagome's blush at her compliment and continued. "Now that I have explained that, there is very little left to explain. It would be the same as protecting the Shikon no Tama." she paused; a look of sadness and longing slipping over her face as she looked off towards the horizen.

"There was a prophecy that a Nobreed would fall in love with the opposite of the power that they had chosen to keep and that they would releave the world of the their seal. During the time of my guardianship, I almost succeded, but failed to protect the one that I loved."

Kagome was almost shocked. She wanted to know more of Okumae and her past. "Who was he?" she asked gentlely. Okumae looked back at her, and then after a moment of hesitance, she continued. "His name was Keitaro and he was a monk that I came across after he had battle several powerful demons. He had been wounded and I took care of him. Our aquatiance turned into something akin to friendship as we agreed to travel together to defeat a powerful demon that was plauging Japan at the time. Over time and through many battles, we felt stronger feelings besides friendship and a respect for each other as fellow fighters; we fell in love and we able to confess to each other before...before we faced the demon, who was called Toshi. It was a hard fight in which both I and Keitaro were injured badly. Toshi fell and we were able to defeat him, but I was poisoned and Keitaro used up the rest of his spiritual life force to weaken the poison to a degree that my body and aura was able to fight off. Unfortunatly, by doing so, he was completely drained of his spiritual powers and was not able to use them to aid his body in healing. I was too weak to help him and he bleed to death. In my grief and sorrow at him dying in my arms, I released the power of the seal into my own body, but the multitude of demonic auras was too much for me to control and it created a...well, the best way to describe the result would be to say that I accidently created a...Wind Tunnel and both me, the seal and Keitaro's body were sucked in. Timeless ages passed and, it must have been over three hundred years before I accepted Keitaro's death enough for him to pass on, but there was the smallest part of me that didn't release its guilt for not being able to save him. I was unable to fully pass on for the longest time, until Midoriko came to me, asking me to be your new soul. She convinced me that if I wasn't able to die with Keitaro, that I should live; however indirectly it may be. I accepted."

Kagome digested the information that she had just been given. She was very sad for Okumae, who's life and love had been taken away. Almost as if she had read her mind, Okumae smiled at her. "Do not worry about me. I have made peace with my past life and have moved on. Your mission is this: it seems that while I had been able to defeat Toshi, his offspring has come forward to follow in his footsteps. You must stop him or both Feudal Japan and the future will be in danger. He will not be able to show himself for at least six months in which you will be able to improve your skills if you wish or attend to some other duty that you have, but before you take him on, you will have to visit Totosia. The old coot commisioned a sword for me when he was just and apprentice swordsmith. You will need to pick it up. He will know who you are when you get there."

Kagome nodded and smiled, her infamous optimism making itself know. "I'll do my best. Don't you worry. Besides, you'll be with me, so you will be able to help when you can."

Okumae to smiled and the both stood up. "This has been a pleasant experience for me. Thank you. Now, it is time to wake up."

"Wha-" Kagome started to question, but then the ground fell out from underneath her and-

**_*THUD!!!*_** "OOOWW!" Kagome sat up on the floor, looking around her. she was back in her room, the clock read 7:23 am of the day after she had come home. Kagome's brow creased in confusion. "_But...I was training with Okumae for...it felt like years! What the heck happened?"_

Her question was answered as she got up and began changing out of her pajamas. **_"I brought you into your mind to train you. Haven't you ever had a sense of time while you were asleep? Time is not present in your mind, only when you are awake and aware. But by training you in your mind, your mind had adjusted you body so that it is suited to what it has learned."_**

Kagome saw what she ment as she grabbed a change of clothes and got into the shower. Her body had toned and molded the same way she remembered it had while she had trained with Okumae in her mind. She was also slightly taller and her hair was a little longer. Quickly washing herself she put on a pair of dark denim jeans and a dark blue tank top over which she wore a dark denim jacket, black socks and tennis shoes, since they were better suited to walking; headed down stairs and was greeted by her mom with a fresh breakfast and Souta. After eating breakfast, Souta gave her a goodbye hug saying, "Say hi to Inuyasha for me and don't get into too much trouble. I'll cut you some slack on the visitation quota, but if you miss my twentyth birthday, I am going to be so freaking ticked at you." Kagome laughed at his joke/threat. "I'll try my best."

Siya presented her daughter with a brand new hiking backpack of dark blue that was already packed with everything that she would need and matched her outfit. They shared a teary goodbye and Kagome walked to the well house and down the stairs to the well. "_Well, here goes another life-threaten mission that I might not come back from, but if I don't come back, Souta will kill me." _

**_"I think that facing that little devil would convince anyone not to fail. Do not worry about dying; this will be fun."_** commented Okumae jokingly. _"Sure." _replied Kagome.

She then grinned from ear to ear and jumped into the well. You know, this just might be pretty fun after all...

"YAA-HOO!!!"

* * *

**FINALLY! *Gasp* IT'S DONE! This is great. I have updated this chapter for those of you who like it. I also updated my other story 'Dungeons and Demons' today. I a little sad that I havn't gotten as many reviews as I would have like, but I have faith in you that you'll come through. I kind of made up a bit of this as I went but Most of it was planned. The next chapter will has Sesshomaru meeting up with Kagome so stay tooned. I'll find time for this. REVIEW! I LOVE GETTING YOUR REVIEWS!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and co.**

**KZ**


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